McGowan suspects the barn owl chicks in the video ... They may have a bit of the soft downy plumage, but they largely look like embryos and accumulate body feathers over time.

The barn owl (Tyto alba), with its characteristic ... Barn owls have superb hearing and downy feathers that conceal their approach, allowing the owls to successfully capture their prey unnoticed.

To make up for this, they have filoplumes—small hair-like feathers on their beaks ... hoot belongs to the great horned owl, but there's more to hear. The barn owl, for instance, emits a harsh ...

We're looking at a ¾-inch portion here. I wanted to show how the feather vanes become downy as they near the end of the quill. The down traps air from the owl's body, keeping the bird warm.

Julie Maggert, one of a handful of people to have snapped a picture of the owl, says she enjoys the mystery. (Julie Maggert) He says his group did not paint the feathers for tracking purposes ...